Le Futur Antérieur in French Grammar
The futur antérieur corresponds to the English future perfect. We use the futur antérieur to talk about a future action that will have happened by another future point or action. This tense also expresses predictions or suppositions about what may have happened in the past. We form the futur antérieur using the futur simple form of avoir or être as an auxiliary, followed by the passé participe (past participle) of the main verb.
The futur antérieur expresses a future action that will be completed before another future action. It is formed with the futur simple of avoir or être + the past participle: Quand tu arriveras, j'aurai déjà fini (When you arrive, I will have already finished). It also expresses probability in the past: Il aura oublié (He must have forgotten).
When to use the futur antérieur in French
Take the futur simple of avoir or être
J'aurai fini
Add the past participle of the main verb
tu arriveras
We use the futur antérieur in the following cases:
How to conjugate the futur antérieur
Agreement of the participe passé
With être
Used for Vandertramp verbs and pronominal verbs. Past participle agrees with subject.
With avoir
Used for most verbs. Past participle agrees with preceding direct object.
How to form the negative with the futur antérieur
Le Futur Antérieur — Free Exercise
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Verb Conjugator — Futur Antérieur
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